Cognitive dissonance is a term for the state of discomfort felt when two or more modes of thought contradict each other. The clashing cognitions may include ideas, beliefs, or the knowledge that ...

Victims often blame themselves for their abuser's actions and perpetrators make it too hard to escape. Gabby Petito’s story sheds light on this heartbreaking reality.

The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people are averse to inconsistencies within their own minds. It offers one explanation for why people sometimes make an effort to adjust their ...